The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1887-10-19
HIGH PRICES FOR BIRDS
WHAT SOME OF THE FEATEERED
PETS COST.
the Highest Priced Of All Birds
Talk With a Dealer.

Talk With a Dealer.
Fifty dollars reward for the return OF
Il gray African parrot was an offer re-
Gently made in an advertisement that at
tracted considerable attention. Fifty
dollars seemed to hiost people q good
deal to offer for one PARROT, and the gell-
eral opinion was that some rich woman
had lost her pet and didn't care how
much she spent to get it back. Whether
that particular parrot was ever found has
not been announced, but $50 was not
such a terribly big price to bid for its re
turn, after all, if it was much of a bird,
according to Donald Burns, who ought
to know what he is talking about for he
has dealt in birds. retail. wholesale. and
every other way all his life He Wa;
busy in his store down by the docks in
Roosevelt street unpacking Il conSi@n
ment of several hundred nasty little
green baby parrots just received, when he
told Sun reporter that even those birds
were worth from s. to so apiece and
that good talking parrots brought prices
up into the hundreds of dollars. He had
then only one "talkcr" in the shop. and
that he had refused $3.50 for. The bird
is an ugly gray one, with red markings,
and sat up on its perch gazing with calm
scorn upon the scrccching mass of green
young ones crowded into the boxes on
the floor. Mr. Burns has had this bird
FOR thirty years. and it isn't for Saleat any
price, but $3.50 is about what it is fairly
worth, according to parrot experts. This
is pretty high for parrot, but not higher
than many Of them have been sold for.
The value of parrots, however, is. in a
majority of cases, fixed a great deal ac-
cording to the whim of the owners, as
the birds generally attain most Of their
accomplishments while in the hands Of
persons who keep them and value them
as pets and not as merchandise. Really
good parrots are hard to get, although
there are 1000 of the birds imported
into this city every year They cannot
be bred here. They are brought in
chiefly by dealers, who send their agents
to South America to get the birds and at
tend them on the passage hithcr. Nearly
one-third of those imported die on the
dealers hands. Almost all of them arc
the common green croaking things that
never amount to much more than null
Sancc.
The best takers, the most tractablc.
and the highest priced parrots are the
gray ones. which come from the West
African coast. They are aSh-gray in
color and have scarlet tails and yellow
markings. They live to be 20 years old,
and sometimes it is said have reached even
90 years.
'sThe macawS, big, gorgeous, scarlet
birds, are sort of parrot. They arc
pretty to look at from distance, but
they can't talk any to speak of. They
sell for $25 or more, however and re
not very plenty. Cockatoos and other
birds similar in decoration and general
construction to the macaws fetch large
prices, but are graded much according
to the willingness to pay of the man who
wants to buy them.
There is but one bird dealt in by the
regular trade, barring, of course. oStrlchs
and similar animals. that is worth more
tnan inc lalklnS parrot. I"I - 'lle
mino bird. The mino bird belongs to
the startling family, and when it is at
home lives in Java, Sumatra, and other
East Indian summer rcsorts. 1t stays IN
pairs or small parties at the tops Of high
trees in the iunglcs, and is very hard to
capture. it is plump bird, about ten
inches long, with velvety black plumage,
with green, blue and purple reflections.
1t is very easily domcsticated when once
caught, and soon learns to whistle, sing
and talk. It initiates the human voice
more perfectly than any other bird
known. Mr.. Burns has received as high
as S4O0 for mino bird, and they have
been sold for even more.
Fancy prices, however, are not con-
fined to really valuable birds. Ordinar,!
song birds, canaries, mocking birds, and
others often bring prices regulated by the
size of lady's purse, and the extent OF
her whim. Such little thing as price
doesn't interfere with trade wncn rich
woman sees a bird she wants. Ned
TorE Sun